Renovation work will begin already in October at the former Red Cross hospital at Jāņa Asara iela 3 in Riga where the new Early Cancer Diagnostics and Personalized Medicine Centre of “Medicīna sabiedrība ARS” will open in spring of 2015. Investment totalling over five million euro has been earmarked for the establishment of the centre.
The result of this project will be the first private multiprofile hospital established since the restoration of independence. Patients will benefit from high standards of medical care and a wide range of hospital services.
Reconstruction work is expected to take place in three stages. First, the façade building of the hospital will undergo renovation. Within the coming months, the load bearing structures will be replaced in all floors and the 750 m2 ground floor will become fully functional. In spring, the Early Cancer Diagnostics and Personalized Medicine Centre will open there. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment that will allow the patients to be examined at the thorough level hitherto unavailable in Latvia.
The next stages will involve the construction of a surgery unit as well as out-patient and in-patient wards.
“After diligent work of several years, prolonged both by the economic situation in the country and the unique status of the building and its technically complicated structure, we have finally reached the construction stage. We are expecting the first stage of construction to last for five months and are planning to invite the first patients to the newly established state-of-the art Early Cancer Diagnostic and Personalized Medicine Centre as early as April 2015,” said Māris Andersons, chairman of the board of “Medicīnas sabiedrība ARS”.
Carrying out the first stage of the project will involve an investment of 6.5 million euro of which 2.7 million euro will be earmarked for construction and 3.8 million for purchasing medical and other equipment. The project is being financed by A/S Swedbank, and co-financing in the amount of 1.28 million euro has been attracted for the purchases of equipment from the European Regional Development Fund programme “High Added Value Investments” administered by the Latvian Investment and Development Agency with the support from the Latvian Guarantee Agency.
“We are convinced that with the opening of the new hospital we will manage to promote medical exports. Moreover, the state-of-the-art equipment of the new hospital will allow us not only to expand the range of services but also considerably improve the possibilities for the professional growth of doctors, so that they can provide the kind of medical services that up to now have been unavailable in Latvia,” Mr. Andersons emphasizes.
“We are very pleased that with financing from our bank we can support the medical company ARS in establishing a new multiprofile clinic and its overall goal-oriented development. Permanent growth is one of the basic conditions for long-term success. This is a unique and modern project that will foster the growth not only of ARS but also the Latvian medical industry at large,” says Ieva Vīgante, Head of the Business Service Department of Swedbank.
The project has been commissioned by SIA “Medicīnas sabiedrība ARS”, and construction work has been entrusted to SIA “Selva Būve”. Management of the reconstruction of the building of the new hospital is carried out by SIA “PUNA arhitekti”, the building structures have been worked out by “Celmiņa būvkonstrukciju projektēšanas birojs”, specialists from SIA “EFIKO”, SIA “A. Ābeles birojs”, SIA “UMT”, SIA “Labie koki” have also been engaged, and SIA “Forma 2” is in charge of construction monitoring.
The existing “ARS” premises at Skolas iela 5 will be kept as the out-patient clinic, whereas the building at Jāņa Asara iela 3 will provide day-hospital and hospital services.
On 4 September 2014, SIA “Medicīnas sabiedrība “ARS”” signed a contract (No. L-APV-14-0187) with the Latvian Investment and Development Agency on implementing the project “Establishment of the Medical Centre for Image-based Diagnostics, Early Cancer Diagnostics and Personalized Medicine”, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the 4th round of the programme “High Added Value Investments”.
